Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2011-12: David Cotton played for the Dallas Ice Jets bantam team in Texas and attended USA Hockey’s Select 15 Festival in Rochester, New York in July 2012.

2012-13: Cotton played for the Colorado Thunderbirds Tier I U16 team. He scored 7 goals with 10 assists and 16 penalty minutes in 37 regular season games and scored 2 goals with 1 assist and 2 penalty minutes in four playoff games. He also skated in four games with the Colorado Rampage. Cotton participated in the USA Hockey Select 16 Festival, scoring 2 goals with 4 assists in five games.

2013-14: Cotton moved to Massachusetts to play for Cushing Academy and skated for the Boston Junior Bruins U18 team. He led the Penguins in scoring as a sophomore, scoring 19 goals with 32 assists in 32 games. Cushing secured the final spot in the Elite 8 New England prep tournament, falling to top-seeded Salisbury, 3-2, in double overtime. Cotton scored 8 goals with 3 assists and 2 penalty minutes in 12 games for the Junior Bruins. In January he committed to playing at Boston College in 2016-17. Cotton was selected by Dubuque in the fourth round (61st overall) in the 2014 USHL Entry Draft.

2014-15: Cotton was among the leading scorers in New England prep school hockey in his junior season at Cushing. In 33 games he scored 27 goals with 42 assists. The Penguins entered the Elite 8 tournament as the second seed behind Exeter but were upset by 7th-seeded Dexter, 1-0, in the quarterfinals. Cotton was invited to the NHL Prospects Combine and was ranked 62nd amongst North American skaters in the Central Scouting final rankings. He was selected by Carolina in the sixth round (169th overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft.

Talent Analysis

Cotton already has an NHL body at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds — what he needs is time to develop and get stronger. The good news is Cotton was just 17 at the time of his drafting, so he won’t even begin his freshman year of college — he is set to go to Boston College — until 2016-17. He’s a well-rounded player — his size, skating, passing and positioning are equally refined — and he could be a real threat with another 15 or so pounds of muscle.

Future

The Hurricanes will have plenty of time to see how Cotton develops. A year in the USHL should allow him to refine his already impressive two-way skills and smarts before beginning his collegiate career. If Cotton can get stronger, he could be a sixth-round steal. He will play with the USHL’s Waterloo Black Hawks this year.

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